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Dear Friend,
Today we voted on what might be the single most important issue this Congress deals with. The Republicans’ proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which narrowly passed the House of Representatives today, would have a devastating impact on Americans’ healthcare – it would rip insurance away from millions of people and turn back the clock on progress to ensure quality, affordable healthcare for all. On the House floor today,I spokeabout what it means for us back home, and I want to share more about how this dangerous proposal would impact seniors, children and working families in Michigan and across the country.
While we don’t have an updated score from the Congressional Budget Office, we know that Trumpcare will cause at least24 million Americans to lose their insurance over the next 10 years.It will raise the health premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket costs of hard-working Americans – all while handing $600 billion in tax breaks to the rich and large corporations. This is the wrong direction for our country. Trumpcare will lead to:
- Higher Costs– forces families to pay higher premiums and deductibles, increasing out-of-pocket costs.
- Less Coverage– takes away healthcare from more 24 million hard-working Americans.
- Key Protections Gutted– would destroy protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions and gut the Essential Health Benefits, such as maternity, prescription drug and emergency coverage.
- A Crushing Age Tax–forces Americans aged 50-64 to pay premiums five times higher than what others pay for health coverage, no matter how healthy they are.
- Steals from Medicare– shortens the life of the Medicare Trust Fund and ransacks funds that seniors depend on to get the long-term care they need.
This is just our best guess of the impacts of this devastating bill. Since the recent changes to the bill were cut in a back room with no public input, and it was voted on without a CBO score, we are flying in the dark and do not really know how much harm the bill will do. This is irresponsible at best and dangerous at worst.
My job is to represent you – the working men and women and their families of Michigan’s 12thCongressional District. Pure and simple: Trumpcare means less coverage, fewer protections and higher costs. I strongly believe that access to quality, affordable healthcare is a right and not a privilege, and that the best test of our nation’s values is how we treat the most vulnerable among us. By that measure, this legislation fails miserably, and I will continue to fight it every step of the way.
Sincerely,
Debbie Dingell
Member of Congress
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